No Pain
by Gyni
Summary: When you don't feel pain, What is there to fear? Most people are missing something now adays. The pain signal, the cage of normal bones, the sanity of only one mind. Marinette cannot feel pain, no matter how much she wants to Adrien's personality is split between himself, Chat, Plagg
1. Prologue

Mission

When you don't feel pain, what is there to fear? In a world where everyone is missing something: the fear gene, the pain signal, the cage of normal bones. Everyone has an advantage. Regular is no longer part of our dictionary. Regular is obsolete and abnormal is the future.

My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. My friends call me Mari and my abnormality is the no pain signal.

I was Part of a group once. We tried to keep order, with all the abnormalities running free, chaos could set in fast. However, the boss gave us a particularly difficult order and things went bad and I ended up getting left behind. I'm not angry and my mission isn't revenge, although I could argue that I have a right to it. My mission is to warn my team before the Akumas can execute their plan. The one thing my boss didn't consider when he gave my team the order to leave me, is that I know what the Akumas are planning.


	2. Chapter 1:Mari

Chapter 1: Mari

 _Frere Jacques frère Jacques_ I hum quietly as I sit on the train, it's not as fast as Tokyo's bullet train but it gets the job done.

I'm in the back corner as far away from everyone as possible. People don't like me much and I'm not in the mood to fight. I continue humming the normally calming nursery rhyme. From the time my mom sang it to me as a kid it was the only thing that could calm me down, until it didn't. Now there's just too much happening. It's stupid to think a song can make it all okay. _I'm_ stupid to even try it.

There's so much at risk and all I can do is hum a song to myself? My team is going to die, if I can't find them, the _whole_ world is going to be a wasteland and I have no idea where to start, my hands curl into fists.

 _I have to find my team before the Akumas do_ There's pressure against my palm as my nails dig into them, but it doesn't hurt, so I don't care.

 _Easy Mari, you don't know when it's too much._ Adrien's voice cautions in my head. I relax my hands and look at my palms, blood crescents trail across the bottom of my hand. Rolling my eyes, I sit back in the seat. I can't afford to regress. I need everything I've learned from my training to track my team down. Acting irrationally is not going to save them or stop the Akumas. I need to be in control. I need to be everything the team made me into and I need to forget the girl I used to be. That girl is useless and weak and she needed to die with her family. My hands curl into fists despite my efforts.

 _Don't want to regress now, do we Mari?_ Nino's voice is mocking even in my own imagination. I snort at the memory of his voice and shake my head, _I miss you Nino._ I push my hair back and growl at the length, Alya needs to cut it. She normally would have by now if I was with her. If she were here with me now she'd scold me for not wearing a jacket, she'd tug at my hair and wave her scissors at me. Nathaniel would just laugh at us in his lighthearted way. Nathaniel is good like that, innocent in a way the rest of us can never be because of what we've seen and what we've done. I try to push them away, their voices, their training, their laughs. I can focus on that right now. I need to focus on my mission.

 _The mission is the only thing that matters._ Adrien's voice is stern in my head, still training me even when I've finished training, even when he's not here with me. I don't want to think about Adrien, I don't want to wonder if his other personalities are bothering him. Especially Chat, the obsessive one. Chat can be such a jerk.

"Stop it." I order myself but still I wonder if he's confiding in… well not Nino but Alya maybe. Alya's good at that, helping with control, understanding.

The train stops almost without notice except the little ding and the name of the stop listed on the screens wrapping around the inside of the train.

I doubt Adrien is talking to anyone he can be a bit of a loner, distant, like me, but he trusts me. Being the leader, they all do, but he tells me his secrets because he knows, that even though I can't feel physical pain, I still know his pain better than anyone else.

The moisture in my eyes, threatening to spill, brings me back to the present and I push thoughts of my team away. I can't afford to get emotional before my team is safe. I need a straight, clear head.

"Hey baby," a man I don't recognize, stands in front of me. He just got on the last stop. He leans down "what's your defect?" He has short black hair and dark brown eyes. He's tall, six three at least. He has thick muscles and a twisted smile curling his lips back. I smirk and shake my head "you're not even worth my time." I stand and he grabs my arm.

"I bet it's something scary." He whispers, his eyes dark, his hand tight around my bicep. I laugh

"What's so funny?" He doesn't like being laughed at. I'd know this look anywhere.

"You have no conscience." I feel the pressure increase around my arm, my body's way of telling me something is on me but if he's hoping to hurt me, his plan is failing.

"Look, I'm busy today and I'm not in the mood to lose control so take your hand off my arm and I won't hurt you" I meet his eyes and his hand falls away.

"What…" He sees the danger in my eyes, he sees the things I've done and he sees what I can do to him.

I smirk "good choice" I go to stand by the doors as he slithers away and takes a seat on the other side of the bus, waiting for another victim. I don't have time to wait around and watch him pick another girl. I could hurt him now or threaten him, but the only way to stop him is to kill him. I don't really have time for that either, besides, I'm not a hero. I'm just a girl looking for her friends.


	3. Chapter 2: Mari

Chapter 2: Mari

The world trade center, hot spot for terrorist attacks before and a hot spot for Akumas now, it's on its fourth rebuild now and thanks to Max, it's not likely to need a fifth. However, Max is at the top, a part of the top you can only get to from the outside and I _hate_ heights, but that is where he's the safest. When you're as good as him you get noticed and when you get noticed, you disappear. I won't let him disappear.

I take a breath and crack my neck. "Here we go." My palms are already sweating as I stride into the building and step into the elevator. I don't feel pain, but I can still die. Contrary to popular belief I am human.

 _Just don't look down_ Adrien's voice invades my thoughts again. Fear of heights is such a ridiculous fear when you can't feel the fall.

"Focus, Mari." I give myself a shake and slide the window open. I take a single second, a second I shouldn't even take, to steady myself and step out onto the ledge. I force my trembling hands to still as I press myself against the wall and slide my feet along.

"Max, you'd better be there." I swallow my fear and count my steps. Twenty steps to the door

 _one…two…three…_ "Almost there."

 _Ten…eleven…twelve_ "Just a few more."

 _Seventeen… eighteen… nineteen…_

I run my hand over the wall trying to find the handle. "twen _ty—"_ my foot slips, my body lurches forward. I know how it will happen, I'll plummet the two thousand feet to the ground and splatter, expect that's not how I was trained.

My hand catches the ledge and I dangle there for a moment. Funny how your body reacts the way it's been trained despite the fear that swallows your sense. My heart pounds against my chest and I struggle to steady my breath.

"Max, open the door!" I bark trying to mask the quiver in my voice with anger. I don't see the point in fear, especially for someone like me, but you only get one abnormality.

"Mari?" The door pulls in and Max pops his head out. He finds me immediately and smiles "you fall every time." He grabs my arms, still snickering and pulls me up.

"Enough hanging around."

"You're really not funny, Max." I pull myself the rest of the way through and he closes the door behind me. I take a moment to gather myself before I speak.

"I need you to find the team for me."

"What?" His eyes are blank

I shake my head "no one told you?"

"Told me what?" He takes a seat at his computer. "I haven't seen any of you guys since the last mission. About… a month ago now?"

Of course, they wouldn't tell him, he doesn't need to know. I suppress any sense of hurt and ignore the anger clawing at the back of my mind. They had no obligation to tell Max anything.

"I got left behind on the last mission and the team is in trouble." I plop down on the little twin bed beside the wall. Max is a Lexic, he's smart. His abnormality allows him to make sense of codes and patterns no one else can see. The only catch is that he can't read regular words. Early on it was known as dyslexia.

"They left you behind?" Max asks in disbelief. "Why? you're their leader."

"The boss outranks me." I shrug and lay back on the bed. M _an, I'm tired._ "That doesn't matter, I need to know if you can find them." I rub my eyes and push myself up. "They're in a lot of trouble if I can't get the information to them."

"Wha—never mind."

He knows it's pointless to ask, if he needed to know I would have told him. Max isn't part of the team. He's an outside source which is why I can still rely on him.

"Can you find them or not?" I demand impatiently. Max sighs and turns back to his computers.

"I don't know, Mari. You guys are excellent hiders. When you guys don't want to be found, you're not." He taps at the keys and his eyes scan over his computer screen. Everything in his computer from top secret files to his mom's cinnamon bun recipe is in his own special language

and then encrypted. If anyone tries to hack him not only will his computer send out a virus as its first data stream it will destroy the hacker's computer as well. Max also added an extra fail safe, his drive wipes itself out if his first line of defense fails.

"Can you just give me a clue?" I ask, irritated with the desperation in my voice. "Something… _anything_ to start with?"

"Sorry, _maybe_ I can send them a message." He shakes his head, "but that's it. You guys are the best at what you do." He shrugs. I sigh and drop my head into my hands.

"I don't know exactly who I can trust, I risk others being able to see the message." I pace around the room and struggle to keep myself in control. I know I can trust the boss and I can trust my team.

"Wait…" Max taps at the keys and more numbers come up "Alya did send me a message about a week ago." He hits a few keys and more numbers come up. "it didn't look important to me but maybe it is to you."

 _The lights are pretty, aren't they Mari?_

I smile at the words that saved my life "Alya, I knew you wouldn't leave me hanging." I got one of Max's gadget drawers and pull out a few tracker jammers and an ear bug, just in case. I also grab a wrist slate and clasp it around my wrist.

"Can you keep this completely secure?" I ask him "only the team gets through to me."

"Sure sure." Max taps at his keys. I grab his shoulder and whirl him around.

"Even from another one of you?" I stare into his eyes.

"No faith." He chuckles "You guys aren't found unless you want to be and no one hears through my gear unless I want them to." He peels my hands away "trust me, Mari, it's safe."

"Alright," I head back to the door "contact me if you hear anything." I slip out of the window and force myself to move quickly.

"Don't fall." Max calls after me. I resist the urge to go back and hit him.

 _don't look down_ Adrien's voice whispers in my head.

 _Adrien…_

The bus is near empty, the sun had gone down about an hour ago. I can feel eyes on me, I already know who it is.

"If you like your eyes inside of their sockets, you'll avert them from me." I lift my eyes to the no conscience from the train. He gets to his feet and saunters over to me like he's some tough guy.

"What's your defect?" he's agitated this time. I can't help it, I laugh.

"Go sit back down before you get hurt." I lean back and cross my legs, showing him exactly how little he intimidates me.

"I asked you a question."

"I gave you an order." I quirk my brown at him. I can see the anger building behind his eyes.

"You're going to answer me." He grabs my arm and drags me to my feet, I plant my fist into his sternum, he staggers back a step, catching his breath.

I pull my jacket back up onto my shoulders "don't touch me again or you'll be in a world of pain you didn't know existed." I turn my back on him, his kind don't scare me.

His hand closes around my arm and he throws me against the window, I fall sideways across the seats.

"No fear, right?" he asks, leaning over me.

"No conscience, right?" I laugh in his face and he grabs a clump of my hair and slams my head against the wall. I feel the skin split and my humor drains away, Adrien would be angry I let it happen.

"You want to play?" I ask calmly "fine." I grab him by the collar of his shirt and slam my forehead into his. He lets out a pain filled cry and stumbles back "you think just because of your defect that you don't have to face consequences?"

He struggles to his feet. I don't know what variation of fear a no conscience feels but he feels it now as he struggles to his feet. He knows what I am now.

"You think you can do whatever you want to anyone and no one is going to stop you?" I advance on him, I push him into the floor with my foot before he can get his feet under him. I could break his ribs, if I wanted to.

"Get away from me." He struggles under my foot.

"What's wrong?" I taunt "Scared?" I smirk and the bus stops. I take my foot away and step over him. "Stay down." I give him the best advice he's ever gotten

I hear his shoe drag against the ground as he stands. I whirl around, swinging my leg out, my heel nails his temple. He hits the ground and I walk to the front of the bus.

 _…_ _I wonder if he's dead_

There is a part of me that wishes I could go back to my innocence, as corrupt as my version of innocence was, but there is no going back. Not after what I've done.

I wait for the door that separates the driver from the passengers to slide open, it keeps the driver from being distracted by the passengers and from seeing the squabbles of different defects.

"Are you sure you want to stay here?" The driver looks out at the desolate place as I step off the bus. The place I'm going to is a mile into it. This place was destroyed by a tornado in 3022 and no one ever fixed it. Why would they when they can just build more things in the city?

I offer the driver a smile "yeah, my mom and I live around here." I lie easily and offer a smile.

"There's no bus back until morning." He's worried about me. It's kind of refreshing, no one ever worries about me like this. Of course, if they know I exist they know I don't need to be worried about.

"Yes, I'll be fine." I turn away from him and pause "but, thank you."

"Alright then, be careful." He closes the door and drives away slowly as if he thinks I might change my mind.

There are rumors for this place, all stupid, exaggerated and just not true. There was supposedly an experimental lab before the tornado and the animals that got loose here were all mutated and deadly. The moment I heard it I knew it was nothing. Rumors like that are the reason my kind are tagged and categorized, we're not like them so we're dangerous. They have no idea what real danger is, sometimes I wonder why I even care about them

 _They remind you of your family_ Adrien's voice is getting to be more bothersome than helpful right now.

 _You couldn't save them but you can save others._

This must be what he feels when the others he shares a brain with bother him, unable to turn it off or ignore them.

 _I couldn't just not save them—_ I jerk my head to the side, shaking it hard enough to jar my own thoughts. I don't want to remember that conversation, I don't want to remember what I did.

 _Focus_ I order myself _focus_

I need to get to my team and we need to stop a war and that's it, whatever comes next, I'll take care of it then. I swallow hard and keep moving forward.

 _One step at a time_

I suppose being the leader now doesn't change that Adrien and the others trained me then.

Night has set over the area but I can make out the line of the crumbling old church, it was mostly destroyed by the tornado and then time has been taking care of the rest. I jump down into the exposed basement. The building is a death trap, the stairs can't be touched or they'll crumble the walls are molded, degrading, ready to collapse. Still, I go under the falling in ceiling and straight to the back corner, there's a dead mouse blocking my path. It's rotting and has maggots eating its flesh, I brush it aside and pull back the small cloth to reveal a tiny trap door. I reach in and pull out a small black box. On the side is the name Chat Noir. We don't really need code names but Nino gave them to us anyway. Adrien's code name is Chat Noir.

"Adrien." I breathe as I open the box. Inside is a small camera with a single button and a screen. I push the button and Adrien's face fills the screen

 _"I know you're confused right now, and I know you'll be looking for us, but don't, It's dangerous for you here right now. There are people who can't be trusted, people who want you dead. you need to get out of the country, forget about us, forget everything we've taught you and get a normal life. Don't think about us or about the Akumas or any of this ever again. I wish I could tell you more but I can't risk it. Go to my mom, she's expecting you. You can live with her, she'll get you settled._

 _I'm sending…"_ The audio fritzes a bit

 _"_ _You can trus… the boss is…"_

The picture fritzes and the audio cuts out.

"No!" panic fills me, I grab the box "what, the boss is what, what are you sending!" I shake the box and it goes black.

"Adrien!" I can see my reflection in the black screen. My hair is sticking out in small spikes all over my head and my eyes are too big for my face. Adrien says I look like some kind of manga character.

"You guys can't leave me…" everything in me deflates, this is my only lead. I have nothing now. I let the box fall from my hands and watch it tumble across the ground. The silence is smothering, I can't breathe.

"NO!" my hand slams into the wall and the bones crunch.

"Answer me!" I hit the wall again.

"Why can't I go home!" I punch the wall again and again

 _Control yourself!_

I let myself fall to the ground and press my forehead to the cool concrete floor. Nino is the one that always told me to control myself. Adrien has too many issues with control to tell me to control myself after I finished training.

"This can't be it." I grit my teeth and force the tears to stay in my eyes. I will not cry, I will not shed a tear, not when I still have work to do. I pick myself up and put the box away and cover it with the rag and nudge the mouse back over it. My body tries to drag me back down, giving up is so much easier.

 _Giving up is a coward's way out. It's not that you can't it's that you're too lazy to do it._ Alya said those words to me when I wanted to kill myself. I was ready, I wouldn't have felt a thing. If she hadn't found me I wouldn't be here now. So, I push myself up and straighten my spine. I was not trained to quit

 _fight to the last breath_

I can hear my team chanting it in my head, encouraging me. I wouldn't even let any of them _think_ about giving up on a mission, what gives me any right to let the thought slip into my head?

 **Author's Note:**

 **This story is actually written already, what I'll be doing is editing a chapter and posting every day to every other day.**

 **there is also a book 2,3 and 4 under way so buckle up and enjoy the ride.**

 **please tell me at any point if there is confusion, any plot holes you see or something that just doesn't seem right.**

 **This is a story I am considering rewriting as a story to have published so all input is appreciated.**

 **this is going to be quite a ride, 56 chapters and a lot of emotions.**

 **also I am trying to get to 1000 followers on Insagram so if any of you has a minute**

 **nunchigoya**

 **it is a bookstagram and it is not just for published works it's for any story I read that I love and that does include fanfics so if you'd like to recommend a story feel free to but on my IG direct messages please and a link would be helpful.**

 **as always, thanks for reading**

 **XOXO**


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